At the meeting (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The Anti-Money Laundering Steering Committee convened its first meeting in Hanoi on June 19 to discuss working regulations and tasks. Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue, head of the committee, chaired the function. The committee is responsible for assisting the Prime Minister in preparing a strategy, plans, policies and programmes in the prevention and combat of money laundering. It directs the implementation of Vietnam’s member duties in the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) and plan to fully realise recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on money laundering. The committee coordinates with counter-terrorism forces to study and propose laws, programmes, and measures against the financing of terrorism across the country to State relevant agencies. Another task of the committee is assisting the Prime Minister in studying and promulgating policies on international cooperation in the field through … [Read more...] about Anti-Money Laundering Steering Committee holds first meeting

When financial transactions grow rapidly in size and variation, banks are required to work together and invest more in advanced technologies to combat money laundering. At the workshop featuring “Readiness to conquer challenges in anti-money laundering and employ new technology trends in the Fintech era,” recently held by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) and PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting Vietnam, a member of the global PwC network, experts shared that the increased diversity of financial transactions and the emergence of new, disruptive technologies in the modern and integrated world have given rise to numerous challenges for Vietnamese commercial banks in complying with anti-money laundering (AML) regulations now and in the future. The workshop brough together leading experts from Vietnam and the region Through its 2018 Global Economic Crime and Fraud report, PwC thus revealed a number of findings related to AML, including the need for stricter regulatory … [Read more...] about New technologies to prevent anti money laundering activities

Illustrative image (Source: internet) Hanoi (VNA) – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is promoting its efforts to help countries in the Asia-Pacific region combat money laundering and terrorism financing. According a report released by ADB's Office of Anticorruption and Integrity (OAI) on March 26, ADB provided a financial assistance worth 2 million USD for anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) in 2017. Through closer coordination between relevant parties, such as banks and financial institutions, and governments, the bank has also taken steps to improve the countries' overall compliance to anti-money laundering policies. Head of OAI John Versantvoort said ADB remains a steadfast partner of countries in the Asia and Pacific region in fighting corruption and money laundering, and improving governance. The report also highlighted efforts made by ADB in the year through OAI, especially in increasing knowledge sharing activities. In 2017, … [Read more...] about ADB supports Asia-Pacific nations in anti-money laundering

These are unsettling times for digital currency businesses and the venture capitalists backing them. On Tuesday, the authorities in Spain, Costa Rica and New York arrested five people at the digital currency firm Liberty Reserve, including its founder Arthur Budovsky, and seized related bank accounts and Internet domains. It was a further wake-up call for those involved in digital currencies, such as the most prominent, Bitcoin, that they need to comply with anti-money laundering rules or risk facing a crackdown. They had already been put on notice - first by an April 2012 report from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation that explained how Bitcoin was being used by criminals to secretly transfer money around the world, and then this March by the U.S. Treasury Department. Its anti-money laundering arm, the Financial Crimes and Enforcement Network (FinCEN) stated that digital currency firms needed to comply with the same anti-money laundering rules as other financial institutions, … [Read more...] about Digital currency firms rush to adopt anti-money laundering rules